Artists aren’t obligated to do anything. If it’s an obligation then it isn’t art.
They aren’t obligated, but many leave out diversity almost by accident or out of habit. I think we should be careful about forcing an artist to do something they don’t feel is right for their story, but there should be someone there to check and ask the questions that need asking. Does this character really need to be a white man? Is there a good reason why 90% of the speaker characters are dudes?
Again, it’s not a matter of forcing, it’s a matter of looking long and hard at the work and asking why it isn’t diverse. The truth is, most of the time, there isn’t a good reason.
I suspect the reason is that people write about what they know and most writers old and experienced enough to be writing big movies or TV shows probably don’t “know” diversity so they don’t naturally write about it. Since most writers are men, they write men more. That’s my assumption.
Some gay people at my school constantly brag about how gay they are (mostly to eachother), and it’s extremely annoying. It’s like they think people like me actually care that they’re gay.
If I were gay and I heard someone talking like this, I’d certainly brag more, because I’d find it extremely annoying to listen to how annoyed that person was that I was talking about being gay.
It comes off as “you can be gay, just don’t bother me with your gayness.” Similar to how chyron is bothered by “flamboyant men.”
I agree with you but for some reason I can empathize because I get annoyed and even hate people for far more arbitrary things so I shouldn’t be talking.